A Protocol to the Double Taxation Convention between the UK and Singapore was signed in Singapore on August 24, 2009 by Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Singapore's Minister of Finance, and the Stephen Timms, UK Financial Secretary to the Treasury.
The Protocol updates the exchange of information article of the existing agreement to bring it into line with current Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) standard and practice.
The protocol marks the third agreement Singapore has signed that incorporates the new internationally agreed standard for the exchange of information upon request for tax purposes, as part of the comprehensive renegotiation of the Singapore-UK DTA.
“Singapore has a long-standing and close relationship with the UK,” said Tharman Shanmugaratnam. “We are pleased to further strengthen our relationship with the signing of this protocol to incorporate the new international standard into our DTA with each other, and that the UK is amongst the first of several jurisdictions with which Singapore will be doing so.”
“Britain is the largest foreign investor in Singapore and 80% of Singapore's investments in the European Union go into the UK,” observed Timms. “So I warmly welcome Singapore's decision to adopt the OECD standard for the exchange of information for tax purposes. Singapore's firm commitment to transparency and exchange of information is very encouraging, and I call on others to follow their example.”
The government of Singapore endorsed the OECD tax transparency standard in March 2009 shortly before the publication of the Organization’s white/grey/black lists. It has since been negotiating new, and renegotiating existing, double tax treaties with a number of countries.
Last month, Singapore’s Ministry of Finance issued a consultation on proposed changes to the Income Tax Act that would facilitate the exchange of certain information with other countries, including information held by a bank or trust company, in response to bona fide requests made under DTAs which incorporate the OECD standard.
A comprehensive report in our Intelligence Report series, examining in depth the situation of offshore transparency and secrecy in a number of the most prominent jurisdictions, is available in the Lowtax Library at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/subs_reports.asp and a description of the report can be seen at http://www.lowtaxlibrary.com/asp/description_report2.asp
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